Black Label Society is preparing to release their highly anticipated studio album, Engines Of Demolition, which officially arrives on March 27 via MNRK Heavy. To coincide with the launch, the band has confirmed they will also release a brand new music video for the album track “Ozzy’s Song“, a heartfelt tribute to legendary Black Sabbath frontman Ozzy Osbourne.
Serving as the direct follow-up to 2021’s Doom Crew Inc., the new 15-track record will feature the previously released singles “Name In Blood“, “Broken And Blind“, “The Gallows“, and “Lord Humungus“. However, it is the tribute to the Prince of Darkness that serves as the album’s emotional core.
During a recent interview with São Paulo’s 89 FM “A Rádio Rock,” Black Label Society frontman Zakk Wylde discussed the creative origins of “Ozzy’s Song” and how the tragic loss of his longtime bandmate ultimately fueled the lyrics.
“ Yeah, I had the music written ’cause we’d been writing this album for the last three and a half years, almost four years. So, we stockpiled all these songs. And I was real happy with the way the music came out. And then I figured eventually I’ll finish the song. But then after we laid Ozzy to rest, when we got back home, we took a break from Pantera celebration [touring with the reformed Pantera]. I sat in a little library room in our house. I just put the headphones on at about one o’clock in the morning and I was looking at a book of Ozzy and I just wrote the lyrics. And that’s what came out.”
Explaining how the track earned its straightforward title, the guitar icon credited his wife and the unavoidable parallels to his previous tribute for fallen Pantera brothers Dimebag Darrell Abbott and Vinnie Paul Abbott.
“My wife would always be listening to it in the truck, Barbaranne, she’d be, like, ‘Babe, put on Ozzy‘s song again.’ So that was pretty much just the working title. It’s just, like, well, it’s Ozzy‘s song. So, people would always be asking, like, ‘I wonder since Zakk wrote a song for [late Pantera guitarist] Dimebag [Darrell Abbott],’ and now we sing it for [late Pantera drummer] Vinnie [Paul Abbott] as well, ‘with ‘In This River‘, I wonder if Zakk will write a song for Ozzy on the new album.’ So, it’s only fitting. We just called it ‘Ozzy’s Song‘. So that’s how we ended up with ‘Ozzy’s Song‘. We’re working on the video for that one right now. So, that’ll be out on the 27th, when that comes out.”
In addition to the studio tribute, the band is currently honoring the legendary singer on the road. Wylde discussed the decision to include a live rendition of “No More Tears” during Black Label Society‘s ongoing tour, noting that the idea was sparked by a massive award ceremony performance.
“Well, [I] ended up doing the at the BRIT Awards when [I] ended up playing with Robbie Williams and Roberto [Robert Trujillo] and Adam [Wakeman] and Tommy [Clufetos]. We ended up doing that to celebrate Ozz getting inducted for a lifetime achievement award. So I called the [Black Label Society] fellows up. I said, ‘Man, we’ll put that in the set when we get back home before we go out and do ‘Engines Of Demolition‘ crusade.’ So, that’s what we put in there. So that’s why we’re playing it. A little ode to the boss.”
Formed by Zakk Wylde in 1998, Black Label Society has maintained a relentless pace over the last two decades, successfully balancing a prolific output alongside the guitarist’s extensive touring duties with Ozzy Osbourne. The band has previously cracked the top five on the hard rock album charts with acclaimed releases like 2010’s Order Of The Black and 2014’s Catacombs Of The Black Vatican.
